Author Topic: .30 cal Pellet Performance on a Large Marmot (GRAPHIC) (Read 1708 times)

rsterne · « **on:** May 04, 2017, 09:00:08 AM »

Here are some photos of what a 45 gr. FX pellet at 90 FPE did to a large Marmot.... Entrance Wound....

Pellet stopped under the hide on the far side after breaking a shoulder on the way in.... The hide was stretched away from the body in nearly a 2" diameter....

Peeled the hide back to follow the path and found the exit wound from the muscles....

That is what kind of damage 90 FPE does to a 10 lb. critter when it hits something solid enough to dump all the energy inside.... Here is the recovered pellet....

Bob

Motorhead · « **Reply #1 on:** May 04, 2017, 03:06:52 PM »

Rock Chuck B-Gone .... WOOF out go the lights !!

Crosman999 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 04, 2017, 07:04:37 PM »

Wow! That's interesting to see indeed. Roughly how many yards away were you?

YamahaR1 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 04, 2017, 07:26:52 PM »

That's pretty sweet to see what that .30cal can do with that fpe.

rsterne · « **Reply #4 on:** May 04, 2017, 07:40:41 PM »

About 30 yards on that shot.... so the residual energy at impact would have been just over 70 FPE....

Bob

Crosman999 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2017, 10:31:04 PM »

Probably sounded like a baseball going into a catchers mit eh!

rsterne · « **Reply #6 on:** May 05, 2017, 08:01:32 AM »

There is no mistaking a solid hit on any animal from the solid THWACK !!!

Bob

Alan · « **Reply #7 on:** May 05, 2017, 09:57:07 AM »

Okay you guys! If you really want to hear a very large whack when the pellet hits, plink a snapping turtle right through the shell. If you hit it the right place with a big enough FPE, the halves will separate, and you'll hear the biggest whack of all!

rsterne · « **Reply #8 on:** May 05, 2017, 12:34:10 PM »

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... self cleaning turtles !!!

Bob

Jay · « **Reply #9 on:** May 05, 2017, 06:45:41 PM »

IM surprised you didnt get a pass through Bob. Never the less good shooting

rsterne · « **Reply #10 on:** May 05, 2017, 09:25:55 PM »

I don't know if you have had the experience of recovering a bullet from something like a Moose.... but it is not uncommon to find a perfectly mushroomed .308 cal bullet under the hide on the far side, with the hide having detached from the body over a diameter of nearly a foot.... After losing all the energy passing through flesh and bone, when the bullet hits the very elastic hide, it stretches away from the body, acting like a big net and slowing the bullet to a stop before snapping back....

This Marmot hide performed in an identical fashion, their hide is very thick and tough.... It was detached from the body over quite a large area, with the pellet imbedded in the fat lining inside the hide.... The shoulder bone on the entrance side took the initial impact, and the pellet deflected down through a rib on the far side, shattering it, before exiting muscle and hitting the hide.... This was a large Marmot, and they are built like little Bears.... very solid animals.... Every one I have hit in the head has ended up with an exit hole, regardless of impact angle, even with a .22 cal at 37 FPE.... although I don't usually take a shot on one with a .22 cal at much over 25 yards.... I hit one last year, in the head, with a 34 gr. JSB King Heavy at 85 yards, and it was a complete pass through.... knocked him right off the stump he was sitting on....

Bob